6 comments:

I can't see the Washington Post article unless I register (which I am inclined to not do). I guess I will never know by what diabolical means they have convinced you we are not in a recession.

Phil Gramm must be a very smart man.

Enron thought so when their lobbyists helped him draft the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (also known as the 'Enron Loophole') which exempted over-the-counter energy trades. His wife was (ahem) on Enron's board at the time.

His current paycheck, UBS Investment Bank, based in Switzerland, paid him to lobby Congress to pass legislation favorable to the mortgage industry during the upheaval in the real estate market.

From Phil's lofty place it may not seem like a recession, but others are not so fortunate.

If he's complaining about getting fired from the McCain campaign, I'd say we have another candidate for the whiner's club.

Dr.,It's not the Washington Post's #'s which determine if we're in a recession. It's Uncle Sam's #'s. These are released at the end of the month after each quarter. So the April-May-June numbers are released the last day of July.

They're finessed after that.

r.e. - Phil Gramm.... I never voted for him. But the arrangement you point to with Enron is typical. Similar to getting the Arkansas governor's wife to serve on the Wal-Mart Board of Directors in Bentonville. Wouldn't the Libertarian concept of a flat tax go a long way toward shutting down the Lobbyist/Spouse Of Politician industry?

I agree that many people are going through a rough spot. That's the case now, and that was the case during the huge booms of the 80's, 90's, 00's, and will probably be the case in the 10's. (Unless Obama, Bringer Of Light, is elected. Then we will all.... oh, never mind.)

I don't think Gramm has publicly complained very much, other than to point out that we're still not in a recession. (And if the initial report is correct, we can't be in a recession for another 6 months. To be in a recession takes two full quarters of negative growth.)

Hide and watch. Watch the reporting on the growth/contraction of the current economy. Then watch the reporting if The Bringer Of Light is elected. Things will start looking rosy very, very quickly. You might remember how quickly the homelessness problem disappeared from view when Bill Clinton got elected? Unless we have another great depression, media coverage of the economy is gonna look downright peachy under Pres. Obama.

WS --You are correct, the Grammophone is certainly not alone in the coziness of his business arrangements (I know that's one of your principal stated beefs with the Goracle).

Also to your point, recessions are identified in retrospect, and at this point, we may not have sufficient data to absolutely tag the current situation. Still, a lot of people are feeling the sky darken.

We shall see.

The Flat Tax...it sounds tempting, but as a student of the Law of Unintended Consequences, I've got my doubts. Were it to be put into place today, tomorrow would see an explosion in experts advising how to avoid paying it. And as usual, those with money would be doing all the hiring of experts.

Finally, I promise not to whine about the Grammophone anymore. It serves no purpose other than to elevate my blood pressure and annoy the spousal companion.